Tuesday, May 22, 2012
CHELSEA
By Craig Crosby ccrosby@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer
and Betty Adams badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer
AUGUSTA -- The investigation of Chelsea's top elected official is ongoing and may soon expand to federal authorities.
Carole Swan
Chelsea FEMA expenditures
Patriot's Day Storm, 2007
Federal money allotted: $337,736
Project Amount Contractor
* Windsor Road $266,880 Swan Construction
* Townhouse Road $24,443 Swan Construction
* Searles Mill Road $9,750 Swan Construction
* Butternut Park $9,480 Swan Construction
* Searles Mill Road $7,350 unknown
* Townhouse Road $4,784 E.J. Prescott
* Cheney Road $4,050 Swan Construction
* Williams Road $2,640 Swan Construction
* Townhouse Road $450 Pike Industries
TOTAL ALL ABOVE $329,827
Source: Town of Chelsea
Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty told Kennebec County commissioners Tuesday the FBI may launch its own investigation because an elected official is involved.
Liberty said two of his investigators continue to look into alleged wrongdoing by Chelsea Board of Selectmen Chairman Carole Swan, 52, who was arrested last week and charged with aggravated forgery, theft and improper compensation for services.
The investigation "seems to be expanding every day," Liberty told commissioners Tuesday.
The sheriff said the director of the FBI's Augusta field office has called him to express interest in the case.
"I think they definitely will be involved," Liberty said in an interview Wednesday.
Kennebec County Sheriff's Department Detective David Bucknam, the lead investigator in the case, said Wednesday he would be contacting federal agencies to confirm if any of Swan's alleged wrongdoing falls under their jurisdiction.
FBI spokesperson Todd DiFede declined Wednesday to confirm a probe of Swan.
"Our standing policy is that we can neither confirm or deny our involvement in any investigation," said DiFede, supervisory senior resident agent for the FBI in Maine.
Stephen Langsdorf, a lawyer retained to represent Chelsea in the Swan matter, said Wednesday he had no knowledge of a federal probe. Leonard Sharon, Swan's defense attorney, did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment Wednesday.
Swan served as a de facto road commissioner in a Town Office beset by frequent vacancies and disbursed much of the town's road work, numerous former town officials with knowledge of Chelsea's contracting have said.
Federal interest in the case may be sparked if officials believe there's been a violation of federal law or a misuse of federal funds.
Title 41, Chapter 1 of the U.S. Criminal Code says "it is prohibited for any person to provide, attempt to provide, or offer to provide any kickback; to solicit, accept, or attempt to accept any kickback; or to include the amount of any kickback in the contract price charged by a subcontractor to a prime contractor or a higher-tier subcontractor."
Officials also may opt to audit the expenditure of any federal monies.
Records obtained by the Kennebec Journal show Marshall Swan Construction won the lion's share of federal disaster recovery aid in the aftermath of the Patriot's Day storm of 2007. Marshall Swan is the husband of Carole Swan.
Of the $337,736 in Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funds paid to the town, at least $315,270 -- 93 percent -- went to Marshall Swan Construction, town records reviewed by the Kennebec Journal show.
The Windsor Road pact was awarded by competitive bid, according to Carol Belanger, who served as deputy treasurer at the time. Swan also won contracts to restore flood-shattered Williams, Townhouse, Searles Mill, Cheney and Windsor roads, but it's unclear whether those jobs went to bid, Belanger said.
Carole Swan -- who is free on $25,000 cash bail -- currently stands accused of improperly obtaining $10,000 from Frank Monroe, of Whitefield, who has owned the contract to plow Chelsea's roads since 2006.
Monroe told police Jan. 31 that Swan, a selectman for nearly 19 years, asked him to overbill the town for road sand so she could receive a kickback.
Liberty said Swan asked Monroe to bill the town for 1,700 yards of sand but to only deliver 500 yards. The town was to pay him for 1,700 yards, and Monroe was to give her $10,000 of that. But Monroe balked and went to police, Liberty said.
Chelsea's road contracting has drawn public scrutiny since at least 2009, when the state sanctioned the town for draining wetlands without proper permits to alleviate flooding on Windsor Road.
The $53,000 contract for that job -- which is unrelated to the FEMA work on the road in 2007 -- was awarded to Marshall Swan Construction without competitive bidding after Carole Swan deemed the project an emergency, several former Town Office officials have said.
In Chelsea, selectmen may award contracts in the absence of a town manager. But the town's ethics policy prohibits selectmen from entering into contracts with members of their immediate families, or steering work to businesses "which they or their immediate family own or manage."
The town's contracting rules also require officials to seek bids for any contracts exceeding $10,000 unless they are an emergency.
Liberty said anyone with information pertinent to the continuing investigation can call 623-3592.
Swan is due in Kennebec County Superior Court for a hearing May 24.
Betty Adams -- 621-5631
badams@centralmaine.com
Craig Crosby -- 621-5642
ccrosby@centralmaine.com
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